Thankful for Answered Prayers!

Wow! What a day Monday was! Chris and I saw God show up in many ways during our trip to OSU. We used to hesitate to ask for prayers, but more and more we see the importance of it. Asking for prayer humbles us and allows spiritual growth for others as well as ourselves. Monday was a great example of that.

Anyway, you’re probably wondering how God showed up. Well, we asked some people to pray over four specific areas for us: 1) safe travels, 2) good test results, 3) a smooth procedure, and 4) no bad after/side effects. All of those prayers were answered in ways we did not expect. Let me explain.

We left at 9:15am, late as usual. Yet that gave us very little traffic to deal with on our trip North. We spent most of the 2-hour drive worshipping. Thank you Crossroads Music, for the blessing of streaming your music on Spotify (and others sites). It was such a great experience!

Prayer request #1 (Safe travels there) - answered

Prayer request #3 (smooth procedure/blood draw) – answered even though not really asked

After the tests were sent off, it was time to wait for the results. Always so fun to wait for test results (total sarcasm if you couldn’t tell). While we waited, we went to the cafeteria for lunch. We were joined by Brent and his wife for lunch and the time just went by so much faster. We were able to have a good conversation about our faith, churches, and families. After we got done eating and Brent and his wife went back to work, we had just a little longer to wait for the results. When they came in, we looked back at some of the previous results and found that they were better than before. We knew then that they would be coming to start the injection soon.

Prayer request #2 (Good test results) - answered

When it came time to go back for the injection, Brent (the Spinraza Specialist and vein whisperer) talked to us about how with each procedure getting done, they are learning and experimenting with how to improve the whole process. They want to do the best they can and cause as little pain during and after the procedure as possible; a goal everyone can get behind. As the number of patients getting the procedure goes up, the better the OSU staff gets. They have even given their procedure area/process a nickname: The Spinraza Drive-Thru. You roll up to the computer to check in and take care of paperwork, then roll into the procedure room to get your “order”, and finally leave the room by the opposite door to head to recovery. All the while the staff is smiling and making you feel relaxed and valued. I think they could give any Chick-fil-A drive-thru crew a run for their money with how kind and caring they are.

Anyway, Chris rolled into the Spinraza Drive-Thru and about 30 minutes later, rolled out to the recovery area. This was his second fastest procedure yet. There was only one moment of a hiccup during the procedure. Much better than the previous 3 injections he has had. Recovery was really uneventful in how smooth the process went.

Prayer request #3 (Smooth procedure) - answered

Prayer request #4 (No bad after/side effects) - answered

After his brief recovery time, we headed home right when Columbus rush hour was about to start. We were preparing for the bad traffic, but feeling good from all the positive things we had experienced that day. We turned on our Waze app and set our coordinates for home (well actually Crossroads Florence since we had a meeting to get to). After just a little bit of traffic in Columbus, we had smooth sailing until we got to Mason. We didn’t turn on the music this time, but enjoyed some conversation about how great the day had been and other random thoughts. Once we reached Kings Island, we were expecting to run into the Cincinnati rush hour traffic. We did for about 10 minutes, but it was not stopped so it didn’t really slow us down too much. We didn’t hit really any other heavy traffic the whole trip, even around the Lytle tunnel which is ALWAYS a nightmare to get through around 5:30 on a weekday. It was virtually traffic-less, almost like God parted the Red Sea, so to speak... We were amazed!

Prayer request #1 (Safe travels home) – amazingly answered

God showed himself to us all day on Monday with beautiful blue skies, minimal traffic, a great worship experience, smooth procedures, good test results, and great conversations. It reminds me of the verse Proverbs 3:6: “in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Our path felt mighty straight and blessed on Monday. Thank you all for your prayers. Yet again, God has answered them.

We know that some of you continue to pray for improvement in Chris’ muscles. We have heard some promising news about others going through this process before us. They are experiencing some improvements and we are told that it seems to really become noticeable at the 14-month mark of the treatments or injection #8. So, if the same holds true for Chris, we could see something about this time next year. Yet we know everything is done on God’s time. So, whatever happens, whenever it happens, we will continue to praise God for Spinraza, as it is being a blessing to so many people. We will continue to praise him for putting OSU and the staff there in our path as well. I don’t know that we could have as good an experience anywhere else.

One last thing, my writers mind wants to tell you all of the great stories we are hearing about from these treatments, but God has put it on my heart to only tell the ones that I have permission to tell. He’s giving other families tools to witness with as well and, man, is he a great provider of tools. I can only hope that their stories get shared so that more people can see his amazing power and works. God, thank you for this experience and the encouraging progress we are hearing about. It is so great to know you are working in the science community to be a blessing for so many people. Thank you for Spinraza, the OSU staff, all the people that have become a part of our community, and for being visible in our everyday lives.